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Monday, September 5, 2011

Grant me serenity....

Just when you think things are going smoothly, something comes along to trip you up. The process of moving and squaring things away is a lesson in changing what you can and accepting what you can't because just when you think things are settled, it turns out not to be. This weekend I discovered my bank sent my rent, not to my landlord, but to nowhere. They cut a paper check instead of paying his account and sent it to nowhere, literally. There was no address. They sent the check anyhow. This is the problem with automated systems. A person might have noticed there was no address and stopped the process to figure out what was going on. The mechanical system, however, just shoots things out.

I discovered this on Saturday morning after my landlord contacted me to let me know he hadn't received our money yet. The bank put a stop-payment on the check they cut and said the money would be back in my account in 3 - 5 business days. In the meantime, I am sending a personal check to cover this to my landlord so that, once the money is back in my account, he can go ahead and cash it. The next step from there will be to figure out how to do this so it NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN.

Also on Saturday, we discovered the tree in our backyard was trying to make an entrance into the neighbor's yard. It's a lovely mulberry tree that just sort of leaned over the fence. Big Guy would take care of it himself, but there's some sort of line there that the tree is also leaning on, so I think someone professional needs to take care of it to prevent death and/or loss of limb (HA) and property. However, it's a holiday weekend, and, as with the bank, that means NO ONE is working until Tuesday without serious overtime.

For most people, this is a relaxing time. For me, it turned into a frenzy of 'crap I cannot control'. I don't like sharp changes in plans; I especially don't like sharp changes in plans of things I had already marked off my list. My reaction to that loss of control and inability to change it RIGHT NOW was to take control elsewhere. As such, Big Guy and I emptied the dining room of boxes and then refilled it with boxes from the family room. We then sorted the place out and got the furniture arranged (mostly) to our satisfaction. I need a wireless adapted for my computer before it can go on my desk but then we are settled in the family room. We have a mishmash of hand-me-down furniture from friends, family and second-hand stores which, surprisingly, almost looks like we planned it and matches the woodwork here beautifully. I have no idea how we managed both the coordinating furniture and the coordinating woodwork, but go us.

In the end, this means Tuesday will be a busy day. I'm OK with that as long as everything gets sorted out. I want everything back to settled, so I can get down to the very serious business of settling in and sorting things out. We need to get settled in so I can get Little Guy into a routine and start homeschooling the little booger. He desperately needs a routine and regular schedule. This past month has been sorely lacking in that department, and I am starting to feel like a horrible parent. But again, I need to look at this as an opportunity to change what I can and accept what I can't.